Making an Audio World With the Creator of The Haven Chronicles

The Haven Chronicles is a science fiction audio drama that follows a group of soldiers in the future as they investigate a distress signal on the corporately owned backwater planet of Haven. Things get pretty strange as the podcast progresses, from spontaneous human combustion to lovecraftian horror, often handled with a dark humor that makes you laugh guiltily at the worst of developments.

Fans of the show (who post on reddit) write about how they appreciate its subtle sound design and music, its strong writing and acting. As an avid listener myself, I can testify that The Haven Chronicles quickly draws you into its compelling and strange world.

Patrick Pierson is the creator, director, writer, producer, and often voice actor in the show. Over the course of a phone conversation and an email exchange, I asked him about how The Haven Chronicles came to be.

Lee: You mentioned when we spoke that The Haven Chronicles has been in your head for more than a decade. All the stories have been in your head for that long? You mentioned that it was almost like “automatic writing.” It just flows out of you… Can you expand on that a little?

Patrick: Picture yourself in the theater, you’re watching Star Wars, you see all these characters on the screen — as well as the Empire doing absolutely nothing wrong. And you think to yourself; Man, this is a damn good story and all of these characters are living their lives exactly how one would expect. That’s when it happens, you turn your head and see me with a laptop writing the entire script as it’s happening because that’s exactly how it works for me.

George R. R. Martin has said there are two types of writers — Gardeners and Architects. Gardeners simply grow the world around them and nurture it along, Architects have full control over the world.. but I feel like he’s missing out on an important 3rd type — the Archeologist; someone who’s only impact upon the world they’re writing about is the simple inflection in which they portray it. If I were someone else connected to the world, Haven might have been a straight comedy, or a buddy cop, or a noir (oh wait that version already exists… More on that at a later date.)

Lee: How do you track the story lines and the characters’ interior lives?

Going off my previous answer, I don’t so much keep track of the story-lines as much as I do unravel them as I go. For all intents and purposes, I’ve known most of the characters in this universe for more than a decade. The newest characters (Oatman, Woods, Lee, etc.. the main characters of this show) I’ve known for maybe 5 years. Their histories are told through me writing about them, and through me obsessing over the story-line of Haven over and over again in my head as i talk with them.

There are a lot of details that will never make it into the show simply because they will more likely than not will never crop up in a conversation.

Lee: You do a lot for this show — writing, directing, voicing, editing. With all that going on, how do know when an episode is done? Isn’t there the temptation to keep working on each episode forever? When do you know when an episode is ready?

Patrick: Is any episode actually, truly done? Is it really done? If I had my way and budget, the episodes would take two whole months to edit together into perfection. Right now, they’re done when I reach the arbitrary deadline I’ve set for myself.

Lee: We were talking the other day about release schedules and about trying to keep to a regular release schedule. You said that every two weeks sounded about right to release the show. Why have you arrived at that cadence?

Patrick: TBH — Originally I was going to release the show in a weekly format. I tried it back in 2012 or so. It didn’t work out because I was never given any reprieve from work and never allowed my brain to wander long enough to write more interesting plot. Granted, back then my only inspiration towards audio dramas was the fantastic show (and Gold Standard IMHO) “We’re Alive.” Which sorta released weekly, but their format allowed for it more.

Lee: What are some of your favorite moments in the story? Maybe one or two that fans might recognize, or one that is personal to you…

Favorite Acting Wise: I believe it was in episode 12 or so when they were all in the Dream ship, Woods and Bordon were talking to “Dufresne.” The voice actor for that character — the same who voices Eckelstein, is way better than I deserve for this show. And his transition from Dufresne to Eckelstein still gives me chills.

Favorite Writing Wise: I really enjoy any interaction between Chelsea and Roach, or Chelsea and Lee. Those are just… really fun to write.

Favorite Story Wise: The Doppelgangers in episode 5 & 6. The whole “You stabbed me in my kidney!” scene is a good one.

Lee: Why do you think listeners become fans? I’m not asking you to reveal your “secret sauce” but there is something that you’ve discovered or uncovered in The Haven Chronicles that people really like?

Patrick: Probably the same reason people like Seinfeld or Red vs Blue, all my characters are terrible human beings who are trying to make it in a world that is at times even more terrible.

Patrick has a new project which he describes as a work in progress. “Finding the voice is a fun thing. But I released the first episode on its on feed recently. It’s a prequel to the current show and shows how weird Haven was before The Fall. Listen to that new project K102Live and enjoy Patrick’s creative spin in a new format.

The Haven Chronicles is part of the FutureX Podcast Network.